Storm surge is also a major threat, potentially reaching 12 feet in some areas.

AP

Walker Townsend, at right, from the Isle of Palms, S.C., fills a sand bag while Dalton Trout, in center, holds the bag at the Isle of Palms municipal lot in preparation for Hurricane Florence at the Isle of Palms S.C., Monday, Sept. 10, 2018.

AP

Mike Herring with Frank’s Ice Company unloads another pallet of ice as people buy supplies at The Home Depot on Monday, Sept. 10, 2018, in Wilmington, N.C.

Another danger is flooding. The storm is expected to slow as it moves onto land and could dump as much as 30 inches of rain.

“This hurricane is big and strong and it’s bigger than Hurricane Hugo which we had back in 1989,” South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster told “Good Morning America” Tuesday. “This is the most ferocious one since then but all the predictions are when it gets to the coast it’ll be moving slow so it’ll be dumping rain on us and North Carolina for a long time.”

The rain is also forecast to be heavy in Virginia and could move inland, impacting West Virginia and Tennessee.

ABC News

More than 20 inches of rain could fall in parts of North Carolina and northeast South Carolina.

Evacuations were also ordered along the Virginia coast for about 245,000 people, according to Gov. Ralph Northam.

Schools are also packing up, just days into the new year.

North Carolina State, University of North Carolina and UNC-Wilmington have all suspended classes, with UNC-Wilmington evacuating its coastline campus by noon Tuesday. In South Carolina, schools including The Citadel, Coastal Carolina University and College of Charleston have all closed until further notice.